About Dr. John Psarouthakis

Dr. John Psarouthakis has observed the world from a remarkable range of vantage points, taking a proactive role in each. As an orphaned child he endured the Nazi occupation of Crete. He arrived in the United States nearly broke and speaking only a few English words, but graduated from MIT. Early in his career he led a Martin Corp. team researching nuclear power for deep space travel. He later led the Allis Chalmers R&D lab, then became a key player in finding, assessing, and acquiring manufacturing companies around the world for Masco Corp. His first entrepreneurial venture, JPI Inc., became a Fortune 500 company before he sold it. Inc. Magazine twice named him Entrepreneur of the Year. He has served on countless boards and advisory panels, and lectured at MIT on Business Enterprise. In recent years he has vectored back to his academic roots-teaching as an adjunct at the University of Michigan and as a visiting fellow in Europe, currently at the University of Edinburgh. The Technology Imperative is his latest book. He has written or co-authored six others, including How to Acquire the Right Business, and Elisabeth’s Gift, a memoir of the remarkable impoverished aunt who raised him in Crete.

Once in a lifetime investment opportunities require a strategic approach and method. “Letter of Intent & Formal Due Diligence,” is a well thought out e-Report developed and utilized by Dr. John Psarouthakis.

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When it comes to business acquisitions, Dr. John has over 50 of them in his portfolio. The method he used is outlined in this e-Report, which is a part of his larger book How to Aquire the Right Business. 

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Anyone who has experience in business acquisitions knows you may come across hundreds of leads, but only a few will make it on your short list. The one you’ll really pursue will be the one that made it to the top of your list because of the approach you utilized.

Business acquisitions require an investment of your time and money. With today’s economic climate, investments must be carefully vetted. Don’t be blindsided, be prepared. 

This e-Report covers the letter of intent, which should be negotiated and signed prior to the start of formal due diligence and the formal due diligence process itself. The most extensive and expensive investigation of a company lead takes place during the formal due diligence. Formal due diligence can be viewed as the fourth filter through which company leads pass.

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Because of its expense, you should probably plan to complete formal due diligence on a company you are fairly certain to buy. Sometimes the process of negotiating the letter of intent itself weeds out some candidates that looked good after preliminary due diligence. Or you may uncover information during the formal due diligence that you were not aware of during the preliminary due diligence phase.

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It is likely that during the 18 month to two year period that you scrutinize company leads, if about two dozen leads get subjected to a thorough preliminary due diligence, only four or five will actually follow through to formal due diligence. Some will drop out during the preliminary due diligence phase itself. Other company leads might drop out because buyer and seller are unable to agree on terms in the letter of intent.